Akers is a great hall on paper. There is the gym in the basement. There is the cafeteria. There is the fire drill on the last Tuesday of every month, at 8:30 pm.
The gym would be a great commodity in our residence hall, if they’d ever open it… It’s been pending being opened since September 1st and still isn’t. Believe they are waiting for volunteers, even though it costs residence hall tax dollars to open it. It makes sense, if you don’t think about it.
The Cafeteria… Some of the food is good, when the thing is actually open. Really? Open 11-7 on Monday – Thursday... 11-4 on Friday, and not even open on the weekends. And from 2-4, half of the Café isn’t even open. I guess the Pizza is good, but the cafeteria itself leaves much to be desired... Like food, and being open consistently. One of the stands always serves tacos and nachos. Always. No variety. Another stand only serves stir fry, and parfaits. The only thing that has any variety whatsoever in this cafeteria, generally serves some kind of foreign food, and is one with the elusive open times. Oh, and the grinders take 20 minutes to make.
The drinking fountain in the halls took two weeks to get fixed, and the elevators make an awful crank sound, that doesn’t exactly inspire confidence when riding it. The elevator also has the added nuisance of having to press your ID card against it, in order for the elevator to even consider going up. The added security does nothing, when five random people enter an elevator, and only one of them uses their ID to send the elevator up. I guess it looks good on paper that they’re taking measures to become more secure, even though in actuality it does virtually nothing… except annoy me to no avail when I wake up late, and wear pajamas to class without my wallet... woops.
The East Akers side of the building is alcohol free, and you get punished for having any. It seems stupid to expel/suspend students for having it there. The alcohol-free rule should be more of an unenforced guideline. I mean, they obviously signed up for the alcohol free part of the building, but it just seems redundant to punish them for it. It’s hard to explain.
The Residence Mentors and Cultural Aids frequently host nifty little events. Awhile ago, they had a “lock and key” party, in which people of the opposite sex are given a lock, and the other a key, and they attempt to find the one that fits their part. It’s obviously metaphorical and full of innuendo, but all in all a great way to get people involved, and even meet someone you might like. Refreshments were provided free.
There was also a simulated board game, except it was with real people... or something. From what I could read, it was like “Guess who,” where you eliminate many people by naming characteristic traits. “Does the person have glasses?” and you get a yes or no answer, until you’re able to guess who the person was. It sounds like fun, but would be hard to organize and keep up with. I didn’t go, but I am slightly curious how people referred to races of people, and if being politically correct was enforced.
People always sleep in the large “living room” study lounge on the first floor. I don’t understand this, at all. There are a few scenarios of people who might do this: 1) they got to Akers early, to nap before classes… Which makes absolutely no sense, as they could’ve just slept later at their place, and then headed to Akers to their class. 2) They live in Akers, and for some reason feel entitled to sleep wherever they want.. Which makes even less sense, as they’re even closer to their normal beds. I guess they just want the attention from sleeping there, or are doing it to be trendy… Either way, it’s stupid and annoying. I shouldn’t have to worry about waking somebody up, and having them be offended, because they don’t want to sleep in a normal fashion.
And no, I wasn’t joking... The fire alarm really does goes off on the last Tuesday of every month at 8:30… It’s easy to remember, because walking through 50 people smoking cigarettes isn’t easily forgotten.
Up next, we have a more cheerful review of Sny-phi!
I would have to agree that living in Akers does indeed look good on paper. It is in east neighborhood which in my opinion is a great place to live just because there is a lot over here even though it is so far from things like the union. They have interesting living options where there are actually four people living together instead of two, which I thought would be great on the other hand when I walked in there I realized just how small the two “bedrooms” are however and realized that if you do not like your bunkmate that you do not really have anywhere to go to in order to get away. As for the gym once again a great idea I would use it so that I would not have to walk to IM east but it has yet to be open like you said. I live in Hubbard and have classes there so the ID card is necessary and because of that I have almost locked myself out of the dorm multiple times and it is the most frustrating thing ever, I have been late to class multiple times because I have to run back up to my room to get it. The one thing that I have heard of but never used it the supposed video rental type thing down in the basement, so I guess there is a positive in all of the pain that Akers seems to like to inflict on people. On I personal note I would also have to say that it is nice that there are a decent amount of classrooms because I do not have to walk far for class. The lunchroom I would also have to agree with however as being one of the worst on campus. You would think that with the east neighborhood being made of some of the larger dorms on campus that they would be more convenient and easy to deal with because there are so many students but in my opinion it is a little bit of a pain to live here. The ID is indeed the worst not only when you are late but when your hands are full and there are no other students to scan theirs and press the button. I also agree that it is sort of worthless because people hitch a ride up with other people all the time, and people offer. One person scans their ID and then just asks everyone which floor…worthless security measure.
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ReplyDeleteAkers is anything but home sweet home. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind living here in the rooms, but other than that I would rather live somewhere else. The cafeteria is anything by convenient. For example, the other day I wanted to eat and I went to the online menu website to see what Akers had for dinner. I was really excited because there was actually something good being served! Then I looked at the clock and it was 7:16; Akers was closed. Cool. I hate the fact that it is ALWAYS tacos or nachos. Don’t get me wrong, they’re good, but mixing it up would be wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThe elevators are so inconvenient, as well as the door leading up to the rooms on the stairs. They both have those ID access things. I understand the point of security but they are inconveniently located. My suggestion, if they would listen to me, would be to put the access pads by the doors leading into the residence hallways on each floor. That way people can still get up the stairs and use the elevators but they can’t access the hallways to the rooms. That to me makes more sense.
I also think that it is very strange for people to nap in the study lounges. I’m all for taking naps but I see people that live in Akers taking naps on the couches. Why wouldn’t you just go sleep in your room? The worst is when the study lounge is full and you need to sit and meet for a group project or do homework in between classes and people are taking up couches while they nap and there is nowhere to sit.
Fire alarms; I hate them. I understand the point but honestly 8:30 pm in the freezing weather?!
I agree that Akers does seem good on paper but in reality I'm really not a fan. I also live in Hubbard which was recently renovated whereas Akers seems as if it desperately needs those renovations that Hubbard received. The gym in Akers is open but there’s no real set hours on it. Sometimes I'll go there and it'll be open and then I'll go the same time the following week and it will be closed. It seems to be pretty random which can be annoying which is why I usually just go to IM East. When it is open it's really convenient because not too many people know about it so usually most of the equipment (which is very old) is usually available. Also the ID card stuff is basically useless and is there basically to make us feel safer, I don't actually think it has been very helpful in stopping whatever they were trying to stop by installing it. I’ve only eaten in the Akers cafeteria one time and I don’t plan on returning. They had tacos, which are usually one of my favorites, but the cheese they used tasted like toothpaste and the meat and chicken were both cold. Overall it was not a good experience and the next Hall that needs to be re-done is definitely Akers.
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